Journeys of a quilter in art, dyeing, and handquilting.

Printing Photos on Fabric

This weekend we went for a lovely fall ride. The colors of the valley were stunning: clear blue skies, white topped mountains, and yellow blooming rabbitbrush. I had fun taking lots of pictures.

I started imagining a sort of fabric collage quilt, with different views and scenes from our ride mixed together. When we got back, I treated some fabric with chemical, in order to print photos on fabric with my inkjet printer.

You let the fabric sit in Bubble Jet Set 2000 for five minutes, then hang and air dry. Then I ironed to 8 1/2 x 11 freezer paper, trimmed to fit, and printed like normal paper!

The fabric really absorbs the dye, so you have to edit the pictures in photoshop, increasing their saturation, almost to the point where they look fake. The colors fad though and look normal once printed. Next, I need to heat set (iron) the fabric, and rinse before sewing. I love how clear and crisp the images look on paper. I can’t wait to start stitching!